Andrew Blackhorse

Andrew L. Blackhorse
8th Prime Minister of Sabia and Verona
In office 10 October 2018 – 3 June 2019
Deputy	Shounn Virny
Predecessor	Noa Dargany
Successor	Apollo Cerwyn
Leader of the Liberals
In office 7 October 2018 – 31 May 2019
Deputy Leader	Shassel Marlaryen
Predecessor	Noa Dargany
Successor	Shassel Marlaryen (acting)
In office 26 August 2015 – 5 June 2017
Deputy Leader	Qian An Noa Dargany
Predecessor	Bertrand Rivière
Successor	Noa Dargany
Deputy Prime Minister
In office 28 May 2018 – 10 October 2018
Prime Minister	Noa Dargany
Predecessor	Emmanuel Starlynn
Successor	Shounn Virny
Secretary of Diplomacy
In office 22 May 2017 – 10 October 2018
Prime Minister	Noa Dargany
Predecessor	Apollo Cerwyn
Successor	Shounn Virny
Secretary of Welfare
Assumed office 22 May 2017 – 28 May 2017
Prime Minister	Noa Dargany
Predecessor	Anton Schubert-Moss
Successor	Shassel Marlaryen
Leader of the Opposition
In office 3 October 2015 – 22 May 2017
Prime Minister	Shounn Virny
Predecessor	Étienne Boulin
Successor	Apollo Cerwyn
Personal information
Birth name	Andrew Lidafegios Blackhorse
Citizenship	Sabioveronese
Political party	Liberal (since 2014) Communist Party (2013–14)
Religion	Pahunist
Military service
Allegiance	Sabia and Verona
Service/branch	Royal Land Army
Rank	Major

Mugshots of Albert Gold, Leandro Casablanca and Blackhorse in Salisse, November 2012.

In this traditional Sabian name, Abakañvái is the matronymic and Brakħors is the family name.

Andrew Lidafegios Blackhorse (Sabian: andru abakañvái brakħors) is a Sabioveronese politician and former Army Major who served as the 8th Prime Minister of Sabia and Verona from 2018 to 2019, and as leader of the Liberal Party twice, from 2015 to 2017 and then from 2018 to 2019. He has been a Member of Parliament since 2015, first representing the single-member constituency of Sejê-Kepren and later the multi-member list constituency of Alios.

A former member of the Communist Party of Sabia and Verona (KMCW), Blackhorse rose to prominence in 2012 for his participation in the "revolt of the Three Kings" alongside Albert Gold and Leandro Casablanca. Blackhorse became a member of the Unity Party (later renamed as the Liberals under his leadership) shortly after the dissolution of the KMCW in early 2014, and became its leader after Bertrand Rivière's resignation in the Haronos Plan. After serving as Leader of the Opposition from 2015 to 2017, he led the Liberals to their second-ever best result in 2017, but resigned from the leadership to allow his deputy, Noa Dargany, to become Prime Minister in his stead.

In 2018, after serving as Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of Welfare in her two cabinets, Blackhorse challenged Dargany for the leadership of the Liberal Party. On 7 October 2018, Blackhorse defeated Dargany and became leader of the party once again, going on to become Prime Minister after Parliament confirmed his government proposal on 10 October 2018.

Early life

Blackhorse is of Venezuelan and German origin. His family settled in Caenia a couple of years before the creation of Sabia and Verona, but he claims to be from Verona and lived in Abrelia before partaking in Haronos in 2015. He is a cousin of Leandro Casablanca.

In November 2012, Blackhorse led a small rebellion against the government of Napoléon Bleuberrie with the help of Casablanca and fellow Abrelian Albert Gold, proclaiming himself "King of the East" as he secured the Quar District in Tegula with the help of locals, who were later discovered to be Unity Party members. The insurgency was quashed by government forces and Blackhorse, alongside Gold and Casablanca, was put in the Land Army's penal conscription system, in which he had to collaborate with the Army and participate in its activities in order to clear his name.

Blackhorse stayed in the Land Army for a year, in which he rose to the rank of Major. Due to the specifications of the penal conscription law, he was unable to ascend to the higher ranks, yet he received congratulatory notes by Adm. Noa Dargany and Gen. Boris Tovinski on his co-operative attitude and "notorious service to the nation".

Political career

Bertrand Rivière.

After being honorably discharged from the army in November 2013, Blackhorse got involved with the Communist Party of Sabia and Verona (KMCW), which had broken away from the Socialist Party earlier that year following the 2013 failed self-coup attemp led by Socialist Napoléon Bleuberrie. During his time in the KMCW, Blackhorse got close to the likes of Léon Galieri, and the Jens brothers Snø and Vinter.

When the KMCW merged with the Socialist Party again to form the Left Alliance in 2014, Blackhorse didn't join the new leftist party but rather became interested in the Unity Party, which at the time was seeing the rise of the charismatic Bertrand Rivière. Rivière became leader shortly after Blackhorse joined the party, in June 2014. After the September 2014 general election, in which Unity emerged as the largest party in government, Blackhorse began to get actively involved in the party's inner workings and became Treasurer of the Party in December 2014.

Party leader

In early 2015, Blackhorse became one of the dissident voices of Unity that rallied against Rivière and what was perceived as his authoritarian style of government. Blackhorse attended the Congress of Salisse but did not participate in the writing of the new constitution. He was one of the few Unity Party members who participated in the Haronos Plan, and on 26 August 2015 he was chosen by the barons of the party to succeed Rivière as party leader.

Though Unity dwindled in numbers in Alios, Blackhorse gained the support of many native Aliosikar, and gained 40% of the popular vote in the 2015 general election, the highest percentage of the popular vote Unity had seen since the 2012 election. Despite gaining 40% of the vote, Unity received only 30% of representation in the new Parliament.

During Blackhorse's leadership of Unity, the party saw a shift from the radical right-wing, social conservative policies of Rivière to a more moderate social liberal approach, as Blackhorse and the party voted in favor of same-sex adoption and the reduction of military spending. In April 2016, Blackhorse met with Prime Minister Shounn Virny in the Kodesari neighborhood of Alios to discuss the upcoming general election and other topics. During the meeting, Blackhorse announced he had intentions to resign as party leader, and hinted at the possibility of vouching for a native Aliosikar as his successor. However, popular support for him as party leader remained high among Unity voters. At the 2016 election, Blackhorse led Unity to its best results since 2012, taking 42% of the popular vote and 9 out of 20 seats in Parliament. Falling short of a majority, Unity lost the chance to govern when the NNS and the Left formed a leftist coalition, leaving the blue party to be the Opposition once again.

In November 2016, for the Unity Conference 2016, Blackhorse presented the New Valtirian Plan, a new platform for the Unity Party that radically changed its core ideology and most notably, its name. Unity, thenceforth known as the Liberals, officially became a social liberal and laissez-faire capitalist party.

At the 2017 general election, Blackhorse led the party to its best result since 2012, getting 52% of the popular vote and falling just a seat short of a complete majority. After the election, Blackhorse announced he intended to resign as party leader, and instead Deputy Leader Noa Dargany led the talks to form a new government.

Dargany governments

Dargany became Prime Minister on 22 May, when Blackhorse assumed two cabinet positions: secretary of diplomacy (foreign affairs) and welfare. On 5 June 2017, Dargany succeeded Blackhorse as party leader following the first leadership election in the party's history.

Following the 2018 general election, the Liberals maintained the government and Dargany formed her second government. Blackhorse then assumed the deputy P premiership, succeeding Emmanuel Starlynn.

Personal life

Blackhorse is commonly described as "reclusive and mysterious", refusing to speak about his private life and affairs distinct from his political career. He is a Pahunist, though he was raised in the Lutheran tradition. It is unknown what the origin of the Blackhorse surname is, as the former Major is neither black nor a horse, but a light-brown bear. Blackhorse uses a false matronymic, a common practice among Alios residents: abakañvái can be translated as "child of unity" (from the Sabian abakañ), though it may also be translated as "child of a marriage". His middle name, Lidafegios, means "pride of the clan" or "pride of the family" in Middle Sabian.

References

Political offices
Preceded by Noa Dargany	Prime Minister of Sabia and Verona 10 October 2018 – present	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Emmanuel Starlynn	Deputy Prime Minister 28 May 2018 – 10 October 2018	Succeeded by Shounn Virny
Preceded by Apollo Cerwyn	Secretary of Diplomacy 22 May 2017 – 10 October 2018	Succeeded by Shounn Virny
Preceded by Anton Schubert-Moss	Secretary of Welfare 22 May 2017 – 28 May 2018	Succeeded by Shassel Marlaryen
Parliament of Sabia and Verona
Preceded by New constituency	MP for the Alios List 22 May 2017 – present	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Étienne Boulin	Leader of the Opposition 1 October 2015 – 22 May 2017	Succeeded by Apollo Cerwyn
Preceded by New constituency	MP for Sejê–Kepren 1 October 2015 – 22 May 2017	Succeeded by Constituency abolished
Party political offices
Preceded by Noa Dargany	Leader of the Liberals 7 October 2018 – present	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Bertrand Rivière	Leader of the Liberals 26 August 2015 – 5 June 2017	Succeeded by Noa Dargany